Ethnopsychologies

7/30/2019 Ethnopsychologies

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Psychological Bulletin Copyright 1998 by the American Psychological Association, lne.1998, Vol. 123, No. 1, 3- 32 0033-2909/98/$3.00

E t h n o p s y c h o l o g i e s : C u l t u ra l V a r ia t io n s in T h e o r i e s o f M i n dAngeline LillardUniversity of Virgi nia

A set of basic beliefs about others' minds and behavior, referred to as folk psychology or theory ofmind, is often discussed as if it were the same the world over. Yet, certainly variation in folkpsychology exists. This article compares several aspects of European American theory of mind withother cultural models, as suggestedby experiments and ethnographies, with the purpose of illuminat-ing the degree to which there is variation. After summarizing4 types of variation, the author explorespossible sources of variability, implications for the mindreading process, potential universals, anddirections for future research.

The ways in which people make sense of others can be expli-cated as a set of theoretical constructs. Among these constructsare lay knowledge about how perception operates, what peoplelike and dislike, what motivates people, and so on. Interest inthis lay knowledge in adult social psychology was spurred byE Heider's (1958) volume on interpersonal relations. It is atthe core of the recent work on children's theories of mind andis of central relevance to philosophy of mind. Throughout muchof these literatures runs an assum ption that everyday, unschooledknowledge of human psychology is basically the same every-where. This presupposition deserves careful consideration be-cause it has important implications for cultural and interpersonalunderstand ing, for developmental theory, and for the process o fsocial cognition. Below, I consider relevant background issues,including what a theory of mind is and what one might expecta priori regarding universality and variation. I then describeseveral aspects of American theory of mi nd and contrast thesewith those of other cultures, with an eye to the degree andquality of variations.

A definitiona l matter must be addressed initially. It should benoted that European American (EA ) is used here to refer to whatis commonly termed Western because the Western hemisphere isnot as culturally homogeneous as the European Americ an por-tion. EAs, as used here, refers to adult upper- and middl e-incomeAmericans of European descent, the majority of whom arethought to hold the naive folk psychology described or i mpliedby the late 20th century academic literature on psychology and

This work was supported by National Institutes of Health GrantHD30418 and National Science Foundation Grant DGE-9550152.I am grateful to three anonymous reviewers, Roy D'Andrade, JohnFlavell, Alison Gopnik, Patricia Greenfield,Jon Haidt, Paul Harris, Shi-nobu Kitayama, Hazel Markus, Zita Meijer, Richard Shweder, the MenoSociety at the University of California, Berkeley, and numerous othersfor comments on earlier drafts. Portions of this work were presented atthe 2nd Conference on Socio-Cultural Research, Geneva, Switzerland(September 1996), and the 2nd Current Directions in Theory of MindResearch Conference, Berkeley, California (May 1996).Correspondence concerning th is artic le should be addressed toAngelineLillard, Departmentof Psychology, 102 Gilmer Hall, Universityof Virginia, Charlottesville, Virginia 22903-2477. Electronic mail maybe sent via Internet to [email protected].

philosophy of mind. Reflecting the European origins of thistheory (back to Ancient Greece), many elements are probablyshared by Europeans as well, and many non-EAs also sharemuch of the theory. It is also important to note that regardingany specific aspects of the theory, there may welt be regiona lor social class or other differences within this group, just asNisbett and his colleagues (e.g., Cohen, Nisbett, Bowdle, &Schwarz, 1996) have found evidence for a "cultu re of honor"among White southern men in the United States. The purposehere is not to catalog exactly which parts of the theory areupheld by whom and when but to describe a generalized viewthat is thought to be fairly typical of this group as a whole.

The EA model is derived from the existing literature. Al-though very little empirical study of everyday adult person per-ception has been conducted, by piecing together data from ex-isting experiments and discussion one can derive a rough sketchof some aspects of the model. Because of the paucity of experi-mental studies of EAs' folk psychology, what is presented hereis best characterized as the Europea n American social sciencemodel (E ASS M) o f folk psychology. Whil e probably fairly ac-curate for the majority of people the majority of the time, thischaracterization of EA folk psychology certainly has limita-tions. For example, religious beliefs (e.g., whether nonmaterialsources like spirits or God can directly influence one 's m ind)are a source of variation within EA culture, but they are rarelyconsidered in discussions of folk psychology. Although veryimportant, variation in folk psychological thinking within theEA community has not received adequate attention from re-searchers to allow for in-depth discussion here. For other cul-tures, however, such variations have been addressed by ethnog-raphers and some experimentalists. That variation is used hereto elucidate the degree to which people might construe folkpsychological matters differently than they are construed in theEASSM.

THEORY OF MINDPremack and Woodruff (1978) i ntroduced the term theory ofmind to refer to a tendency to impute mental states to oneself

and others. The term theory is applicable both because mentalstates are unobservable entities (hence, their existence is purelytheoreti cal) and because ideas about internal states form a coher-


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4 LILLARDe n t s y s t e m f r o m w h i c h o n e c a n m a k e p r e d i c t i o n s a b ou t o r e x -p l a i n b e h a v i o r ( W e l l m a n , 1 9 9 0 ) . O n e i m p o r t a n t i s s u e i s w h e t h e rp e o p l e a c t u a l l y t ls e t h a t t h e o r y t o a r r i v e a t i n t e r p e r s o n a lu n d e r s t a n d i n g .

T h e r e a r e t w o m a j o r l i n e s o f t h o u g h t a b o u t t h e p r o c e s s o fi n t e r p e r s o n a l u n d e r s t a n d i n g . A c c o r d i n g t o t h e t h e o r y t h e o r y( D a v i e s & S t o n e , 1 9 9 5 a ; G o p n i k & W e l l m a n , 1 9 9 4 ; P e r n er ,1 9 91 ) , o n e d r a w s o n a t h e o r y o f m i n d t o u n d e r s t a n d p e o p l e ' sb e h a v i o r s , p s y c h o l o g i c a l s ta t e s , a n d t r a it s . O n e t a k e s i n d a t ac o n c e r n i n g t h e p e r s o n , c o n s u l t s t h e t h e o r e t i c a l k n o w l e d g e , a n da r r i v e s a t s o m e f o l k p s y c h o l o g i c a l u n d e r s t a n d i n g . F o r e x a m p l e ,i f o n e s e e s s o m e o n e l o o k i n g a t s o m e t h i n g a n d t h e p e r s o n ' sv i s i o n i s n o t b l o c k e d , o n e m i g h t t h i n k t h a t s h e o r h e m u s t s e et h a t w h i c h i s b e i n g l o o k e d a t ( F l a v e l l , G r e e n , I - I e rr e ra , & F l a v e l l ,1991; E I-leidel; 195 8). If sorrr,one w an ts someth ing and the re a ren o o b v i o u s i m p e d i m e n t s , o n e m a y b e l i e v e t h a t t h e p e r s o n w i l lg o a b o u t g e t t i n g i t ( B a r t s c h & W e l l m a n , 1 9 9 5 ; C h u r c h l a n d ,1 9 8 4 ; E I - Ie i d e r, 1 9 5 8 ) . T h e s e a c t s o f s o c i a l c o g n i t i o n d r a w o nt h e t h e o r y o f m i n d a s a d a t a b a s e o f p o s s i b l e e x p l a n a t i o n s , a n da l t e rn a t i v e s t h a t a r e n o t i n o n e ' s f o l k m o d e l a r e g e n e r a l l y n o te v e n c o n s i d e r e d . F o r e x a m p l e , i f a c o l l e a g u e w a l k s b y w i t h o u ts a y i n g " h e l l o , " a n E A d o e s n o t n o r m a l l y s p e c u la t e th a t t hep e r s o n i s c u r r e n t l y o c c u p i e d b y a w i t c h .

A n i m p o r t a n t f e a tu r e o f t h e t h e o r y t h e o ry i s t h a t o n e ' s i d e a sa b o u t o t h e r s a r e d e r i v e d s o l e l y f r o m t h e a v a i l a b l e e v i d e n c e . I nc o n t r a s t , a c c o r d i n g t o B r u n e r ' s ( 1 9 9 0 ) n a r r a t i v e a c c o u n t ( s e ea l s o C a r r i th e r s , 1 9 9 2 ) , o n e h a s a s e t o f i n n a t e l y s p e c i f ie d c o n -s t i t u e n t b e l i e f s b y w h i c h o n e m a k e s s e n s e o f o t h e r s. W h e n p e o -p l e b e h a v e s t r a u g e l y a n d t h e s e b e l i e f s a r e v i o l a t e d , o n e a d d s t ot h e i n n a t e b e l i e f s c u l t u r a l l y i n f o r m e d n a r r a t i v e s t h a t m a k e t h eb e h a v i o r s e n s i b l e . T h e s t o r i e s s e r v e t o l i n k t h e e x c e p t i o n a l t ot h e o r d i n a r y . T h i s v i e w i s v e r y c o m p a t i b l e w i t h a t h e o r y t h e o r yv i e w , a l t h o u g h t h e c o n s t i t u e n t b e l i e f s h a v e a d i f f e r e n t s o u r c e .

A n i m p o r t a n t a lt e r n a t iv e th e o r y a b o u t h o w p e o p l e r e a d o t h e r si s t h a t t h e y e n g a g e i n a p r o c e s s o f s i m u l a t i o n ( D a v i e s & S t o n e ,1 9 9 5 a , 1 9 9 5 b ) . P e o p l e u n d e r s t a n d o t h e r s b y p r o j e c t i n g t h e m -s e l v e s o n t o o t h e r s ( G o r d o n , 1 9 9 5 a , 1 9 9 5 c ) o r b y p r e t e n d i n gt h a t th e y a r e i n t h e o t h e r ' s c i r c u m s t a n c e s ( H a r r i s , 1 9 9 5 b ) . T h e o -r e t i c a l k n o w l e d g e i s n o t p r i m a r y . I n s te a d , p e o p l e h a v e a c a p a c i t yt o i m a g i n e t h e m s e l v e s a s o t h er s . T h i s e n a b l e s t h e m t o r e a d m i n d sb e c a u s e t h e y r e - e v o k e t h e o t h e r ' s m e n t a l s t a t e i n t h e m s e l v e s . I fI s e e s o m e o n e l o o k i n g a t s o m e t h i n g , I i m a g i n e I a m h i m a n dt h e n I k n o w w h a t h e s e e s . I f s o m e o n e w a l k s b y w i t h o u t g r e e t i n gm e , I i m a g i n e m y s e l f d o i n g t h a t , g e n e r a te m y r e a s o n s , a n d a s -s u m e t h o s e t o b e t h a t p e r s o n ' s t o o . B y s i m u l a t i o n a c c o u n t s ,p e o p l e d o n o t u s u a l l y d r a w o n a t h e o r y , a l t h o u g h s i m u l a t i o n sd o r e s u l t i n t h e i r e v e n t u a l l y h a v i n g s u c h a t h e o r y t h a t t h e ys o m e t i m e s u s e t o u n d e r s t a n d o t h e r s ( G o l d m a n , 1 9 9 5 b , p . 8 8 ;Gordon , 1995b , p . 185 ; Har r i s , 1995b , p . 210 ; Hea l , 1995 ,p . 3 4 ) . T h e e v i d e n c e d e s c r i b e d l a t e r c o n c e r n s t h e r e s u l t i n g t h e o -r e t i c a l k n o w l e d g e .

A P R I O R I E X P E C T A T I O N S

U n i v e r s a l s : T h e D e v e l o p m e n t a l P r o c e s sN a t i v i s m

O n e t h e o r y o f h o w p e o p l e a c q u i r e f o l k p s y c h o lo g y i s t h a t i ti s i n b o r n . B y t h i s r e a s o n i n g , j u s t a s p e o p l e a r e u s u a l l y b o r nw i t h a r m s a n d l e g s , p e o p l e a r e u s u a l l y b o r n w i t h c e r t a i n i d e a so r a t l e a s t t e n d e n c i e s t o t h i n k a b o u t t h e w o r l d i n c e r t a i n w a y s(Bruner , 1990 ; Carey , 1985 ; Spe lke , Bre in l inger , Mac omb er , &J a c o b s e n , 1 9 9 2 ; s e e a l s o S p e l k e , P h i l l i p s , & W o o d w a r d , 1 9 9 5 ) .W h e r e t h e r e a r e e x c e p t i o n s , i n d i v i d u a l s ( e . g . , t h o s e w i t h a u t i s m ;B a r o n - C o h e n , 1 9 9 5 ) r a t h e r th a n w h o l e c u l t u r e s a r e a f f e c t e d . I nk e e p i n g w i t h t h is , W i e r z b i c k a ( 1 9 9 2 ) c l a i m e d t h a t a s m a l l s e to f b a s i c m e n t a l i s t i c c o n c e p t s , n a m e l y , th ink , f ee l , know, a ndw a n t , a r e f o u n d i n a l l l a n g u a g e s a n d t h e r e f o r e a r e p r o b a b l yi n n a t e . F o d o r ( 1 98 7 , 1 9 9 2 ) a l s o c l a i m e d t h a t p e o p l e h a v e i n n a t ep s y c h o l o g i c a l c o n c e p t s a n d e v e n t h a t t h e m o d u l e i n w h i c h t h e ye x i s t i s e n c a p s u l a t e d a n d i n v u l n e r a b l e t o e v i d e n c e ( F o d o r ,1 9 8 3 ) . S o m e w h a t d i f fe r e n t l y , B a r o n - C o h e n ( 1 9 9 5 ) a n d L e s l i e( 1 9 9 5 ) a r g u e d t h a t i n n a t e l y s p e c i f i e d p r o c e s s o r s e x i s t t o h a n d l ef o l k p s y c h o l o g i c a l c o n t e n t ; a s t h e y a r e s p e c i f i e d b y t h e i r a u t h o r s,o n e w o u l d e x p e c t i d e n t i c a l f o l k p s y c h o l o g i c a l re s u l t s a c r o s sc u l t u r e s . F o r e x a m p l e , i n b o t h t h e o r i e s , w a t c h i n g a n a g e n t p e r -f o r m a n a c t r e s u l t s in t h e o b s e r v e r ' s a u t o m a t i c a l l y c o m p u t i n gw h a t t h e a g e n t ' s i n t e n t i o n is , C o m p u t i n g i n t e n t i o n s a n d a r r i v i n ga t a c o n c e p t u a l s t r u c t u r e , w h e r e b y a c t i o n s a r e e x p l a i n e d w i t hr e f e r e n c e t o i n t e n t i o n , s h o u l d t h e r e b y b e u n i v e r sa l . B a r o n - C o h e ns p e c i f i e d t h a t t h e i n f o r m a t i o n g a t h e r e d t h r o u g h t h e s e i n n a t e s y s -t e m s e v e n t u a t e s i n a t h e o r y o f m i n d , b u t t h e m i n d r e a d i n g s y s -t e m s t h a t l e a d t o t h a t t h e o r y m a k e n o c l e a r a l l o w a n c e f o r h o wc u l t u r a l v a r i a t i o n s m i g h t s e e p i n . I n a l l o f t h e s e n a t i v i s t t h e o r i e s ,t h e n , a s c u r r e n t l y f o r rr m l a t e d , a t l e a s t t h e b a s i c s o f a n d p o s s i b l ya l l o f f o l k p s y c h o l o g y s h o u l d b e u n i v e r sa l .

S i m u l a t i o nS i m u l a t i o n ( w h i c h , l i k e t h e t h e o r y t h e o r y , i s d i s c u s s e d w i t h

r e f e r e n c e b o t h t o p r o c e s s a n d t o d e v e l o p m e n t ) a l s o e n t a i l s a ni n n a t e l y s p e c i f i e d p r o c e s s o r t h a t a r r i v e s a t f o l k p s y c h o l o g i c a lu n d e r s t a n d i n g . F o r t h e m o s t p a r t , s i m u l a t i o n th e o r i s t s h a v e h a dl i t t l e t o s a y r e g a r d i n g u n i v e r s a l i t y o r d e v e l o p m e n t ( e x c e p t r e -g a r d i n g t h e p a r t i c u l a r d e v e l o p m e n t o f u n d e r s t a n d i n g f a l s e b e -l i e f s ; b u t c f . H a r r i s , 1 9 9 0 , 1 9 9 5 a ) . B a s e d o n m o s t w r i t i n g o ns i m u l a t i o n , f o l k p s y c h o l o g y s h o u l d b e u n i v er s a l : " A p e r s o n c a ns u c c e s s f u l l y s i m u l a t e t h e i n t e r n a l o p e r a t i o n s o f o t h e r s b e c a u s et h e y a r e l ar g e l y h o m o l o g o u s t o h e r [ o r h i s] o w n " ( G o l d m a n ,1 9 9 5 b , p . 8 9 ) .1 A l l c h i l d r e n s h o u l d c o m e t o u n d e r s t a n d a s i n g l ec o n c e p t o f d e s i r e b e c a u s e a l l c h i l d r e n e x p e r i e n c e d e s i r e a n ds h o u l d c o r r e c t l y s i m u l a t e i t w h e n r e g a r d i n g o t h e r s w h o d e s i r e .

T h e m a i n e x c e p t i o n a m o n g s i m u l a t i o n t h e o r i s t s i n c o n s i d e r i n gd e v e l o p m e n t ( a n d c u l t u r e ) i s H a r r i s ( 1 9 9 0 , 1 9 9 5 a ) . H e c l a i m e dt h a t " t h e c h i l d ' s c o n c e p t i o n o f t h e m i n d i s p r o b a b l y u n i v e r s a l i nt h e e a r l y y e a r s [ b e c a u s e ] c h i l d r e n e v e r y w h e r e w i l l h a v e c e r t a i nc o m m o n e x p e r i e n c e s a n d a r r i v e a t a c o r e s e t o f c o n c l u s i o n s "( H a r r i s , 1 9 90 , p . 2 1 8 ) . H o w e v e r , a c u l t u r a l l y s p e c i f i c m e t a -

T h e r e a r e a p r i o r i r e a so n s w h y o n e m i g h t e x p e c t o r n o t e x p e c tv a r i a t i o n in f o l k p s y c h o l o g i e s . T h e o r i e s o f h o w m i n d r e a d i n gd e v e l o p s p r e d i c t u n i v e r s a l s , a t l e a s t i n s o m e b a s i c c o r e , w h e r e a so t h e r f a c t o r s s u g g e s t o n e w o u l d f i n d s u b s t a n t i a l v a ri a b i l i ty .

1Goldman (1995b, p. 79) briefly acknowledged nonuniversality as aproblem for the theory theory but did not take up the issues it presentsfor simulation theory.


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ETHNOPSYCHOLOGIES 5t h e o r y w i l l e v e n t u a l l y b e a d d e d t o t h e u n i v e r s a l c o r e . C u l t u r a lv a r i a t i o n , H a r r i s b e l i e v e s , w i l l m a i n l y c o n c e r n c e r t a i n t y p e s o fm a r k e d e x p e r i e n c e s : a n t i s o c i a l n e s s , s i c k n e s s , d r e a m s , i n t e n s ef e e li n g s , a nd s o o n . T h i s i s s i m i l a r t o B r u n e r ' s ( 1 9 9 0 ) i d e at h a t i t i s n o n c a n o n i c a l e v e n t s t h a t s t i m u l a t e p e o p l e t o d e v e l o pe x p l a n a t o r y na r r a ti v e s ( s e e a l s o H e e l a s & L o c k , 1 9 8 1 ) : W h a ti s n o t c l e a r i n s i m u l a t i o n t h e o r y i s h o w a c u l t u r e c o u l d c o m eu p w i t h i t s o w n u n i q u e s i m u l a t i o n s a b o u t t h o s e n o n c a n o n i c a leven ts .

The Theory TheoryA l s o s u g g e s t i n g t h a t f o l k p s y c h o l o g y i s b a s i c a l l y t h e s a m e

e v e r y w h e r e i s t h e a f o r e m e n t i o n e d t h e o r y : t he o r y . T h i s t h e o r yp r e s u p p o s e s t h e s c i e n t is t m o d e l o f p e o p l e a s l e a rn e r s ( G o p n i k &W e l l m a n , 1 9 9 4 ) . A s g o o d s c i e n t i s t s, p e o p l e t a k e d a t a i n f r o mt h e w o r l d a n d a d j u s t t h e i r t h e o r i e s t o f it t h o s e d a t a . A c c o r d i n gt o G o p n i k a n d W e l lm a n , a p e r s o n ' s d a t a b a s e i s b a s i c a l ly t hes a m e e v e r y w h e r e . F o r e x a m p l e , p e o p l e e v e r y w h e r e a c t t o f u l f i l lt h e i r d e s i r e s a s l o n g a s n o t h i n g i s i m p e d i n g t h e m . C h i l d r e n s e et h i s , r e a s o n a b o u t i t , a n d a r r i v e a t th e c o r r e c t r e a s o n : H e o r s h ei s w a l k i n g t o w a r d s o m e t h i n g b e c a u s e h e o r s h e w a n t s i t .

I t i s w o r t h n o t i n g h e r e t h a t f o r s o m e , t h e t e r m t h e o r y o f m i n dr e f e r s t o a u n i v e r s a l c o r e s e t o f b e l i e f s ( l i k e B r u n e r ' s , 1 9 9 0 ,c o n s t i t u e n t b e l i e f s ) , w h e r e a s f o l k p s y c h o l o g y i s r e s e r v e d f o r an o n c o r e s e t t h a t i s b u i l t o n t o p o f t h a t c o r e a n d t h a t c a n b ei n f l u e n c e d b y c u l t u r e ( B a r t s c h & W e l l m a n , 1 9 9 5 ; G o p n i k &W e l l m a n , 1 9 9 4 ) . H o w e v e r , i f k n o w l e d g e a b o u t m i n d s i s r e a l l yt h e o r e t i c a l , t h e n c o n s t r u c t s a r e d e f i n e d i n t e r m s o f o t h e r c o n -s t r u c t s i n t h e t h e o r y ( C h u r c h l a n d , 1 9 8 4 ; W e l l m a n , 1 9 9 0 ) . T h a tb e i n g t h e c a s e , v a r i a t i o n i n t h e n o n c o r e s e t m a n d a t e s v a r i a t i o ni n t h e c o r e s e t , c a l l i n g u n i v e r s a l s i n t o q u e s t i o n .

I n s u m m a r y , t h e m a j o r t h e o r i e s o f h o w o n e d e v e l o p s a t h e o r yo f m i n d a l l p r e d i c t u n i v e r s a l i t y , a t l e a s t i n t h e e a r l y y e a r s a n di n s o m e c o r e t h e o r y . I n n a t e c o n c e p t t h e o r i s t s s a y p e o p l e a r eb o r n w i t h c o n c e p t s i n t a c t . I n n a t e m o d u l e t h e o r i s t s , in c l u d i n gs i m u l a t i o n t h e o r i s t s , d e s c r i b e p r o c e s s o r s t h a t s h o u l d a r r i v e a t t h es a m e c o n c l u s i o n s a n d e v e n t u a l l y t h e s a m e r e s u l t i n g c o n c e p t u a lf o r m u l a t i o n s e v e r y w h e r e . B r u n e r ' s ( 1 9 9 0 ) n a r r a t i v e t h e o r yc l a i m s a u n i v e r s a l s e t o f c o r e b e l i e f s t h a t i s e i t h e r i n n a t e o ri n n a t e l y p r e d i s p o s e d t o d e v e l o p . F o r t h e o r y t h e o r i s t s, t h e b a s i c so f f o l k p s y c h o l o g y a r e u n i v e r s a l b e c a u s e t h e c r u c i a l e v i d e n c ea n d p e o p l e ' s t h e o r y - m a k i n g c a p a c i t i e s a r e t h e s a m e e v e r yw h e r e .I t i s i m p o r t a n t t o n o t e t h a t a l t h o u g h n a r r a t i v e , s i m u l a t i o n , a n dt h e o r y t h e o r y a c c o u n t s a d m i t t o t h e p o s s i b i l i t y o f v a r i a t i o n i nf o l k p s y c h o l o g y i n l a t e r y e a r s , a l l a r e d e f i c i e n t in e x p l a i n i n gh o w v a r i a b i l i t y o c c u r r e d i n t h e f i rs t p l a c e .

V a r i a b i l i t yT h e r e a r e a l s o m a n y r e a s o n s t o s u p p o s e t h a t t h e r e m i g h t b e

i m p o r t a n t c u l t u r a l v a r i a t i o n s i n f o l k p s y c h o l o g y , e v e n a t t h ec o r e . S e v e r a l o f t h e s e a r e d i s c u s s e d b e l o w : e x t e r n a l d i f f e r e n c e sr e f l e c t i n g i n t e r n a l o n e s , o p t i o n a l c o n s t r u a l s , v a r i a t i o n s i n p r e -c o n d i t i o n s f o r a c t s o f s o c i a l c o g n i t i o n , a n d v a r i a t i o n s i n n u a n c e so f m e a n i ng .

External Differences Reflecting Internal OnesC u l t u r e s c e r t a i n l y v a r y i n e x t e r n a l l y o b s e r v a b l e w a y s . P e o p l e

e a t d i f f e r e n t f o o d s w i t h d i f f e r e n t u t e n s i l s , d i v i d e r o l e s d i f f e r -

e n t l y , e n g a g e i n d i f f e r e n t r e l i g i o u s p r a c t i c e s , w e a r d i f f e r e n tc l o t h i n g , a n d s o o n . I n t e r n a l a n d e x t e rn a l , a s p e c t s o f c u l t u r e a r ep r o b a b l y i m p o r t a n t l y l i n k e d ; c u l t u r a l p s y c h o l o g i s t s c l a i m t h a tm i n d a n d c u l t u r e a r e m u t u a l l y c o n s t i t u t e d ( P . J . M i l l e r & G o o d -n o w , 1 9 9 5 ) . H a b i t u a l u s e o f a g i v e n l a n g u a g e m i g h t e v e n l e a do n e t o C o n s i d e r p e o p l e i n l a n g u a g e - s p e c i f i c w a y s ( I k e g a m i ,1 9 91 ) . I n J a p a n e s e , t h e p e r s o n i s l e x i c a l i z e d a s " a l o c a t i o n i nw h i c h t h e a c t t a k e s p l a c e " ( p , 3 1 4 ) . I n c o n t r a s t , i n E n g l i s h ,t h e p e r s o n i s a c l e a r l y i d e n t i f i e d a g e n t , t h e s o u r c e o f a c t i o n , A sc h i l d r e n g r o w i n t o d i f f e r e n t c u l t u r e s w i t h d i f f e r e n t p r a c t i c e s( i n c l u d i n g l i n g u i s t i c o n e s ) , i t m i g h t m a k e s e n s e ; t h a t t h e y f o r md i f f e r e n t i d e a s a b o u t t h e m i n d t h a t f i t t h o s e p r a c t i c e s .

Optional ConstrualsA s e c o n d r e a s o n t o e x p e c t v a r i a t i o n i n f o l k p s y c h o l o g y i s

t h a t s o m e c o n s t r u a ls o f E A f o l k p s y c h o l o g y ca n b e s e e n a so p t i o n a l . O n e m i g h t o p t t o c o n s t r u e t h e m d i f f e r e n t l y b e c a u s et h e r e i s n o s o l i d e v i d e n c e o n e w a y o r t h e o t h e r i n d i c a t i n g th ec o r r e c t c o ns t r ua l . F o r e x a m p l e , i n t h e E A S S M , t h e r e i s n o a l l o w -a n c e t h a t d e a d a n c e s t o r s l i v e a m o n g p e o p l e a n d d i r e c t l y a n di n t e n t i o n a l l y in f l u e n c e t h e i r t h i n k i n g o r b e h a v i o r . H o w e v e r , t h e r ei s n o s o l i d e v i d e n c e t h a t d e a d a n c e s t o r s a r e n o t i n f l u e n c i n gp e o p l e ; i t s i m p l y d o e s n o t m a k e s e n s e i n t h e E A s y s t e m t h a tt h e y c o u l d .

S i m i l a r l y , a n o t h e r o p t i o n a l c o n s t r u a l m i g h t b e t h e e x t e n t t ow h i c h p e o p l e a r e v i e w e d a s a u t o n o m o u s i n d i v i d u a ls ( H e e l a s ,1 9 81 ; L o c k , ! 9 8 1 b ) . I n E A c u l tu r e , p e o p l e a r e u su a l l y co n s i d -e r e d r e s p o n s i b l e f o r t h e i r o w n b e h a v i o r b u t n o t f o r t h a t o f o t h e r s( B e l l a h , M a d s e n , S u l l i v a n , S w i d l e r ; & " l i p t o n , 1 9 8 5 / 1 9 9 6 ; F i n -c h a i n & J a s p a r s , 1 9 7 9 ; H a m i l t o n & S a n d e r s , 1 9 9 2 ; M e i j e r &S e m i n , 1 9 9 6 ; W . M i s c h e l , 1 9 7 3 ) . I n c o n t r a s t , in J a p a n , e v e np r e s c h o o l e r s a r e c o n s i d e r e d r e s p o n s i b l e f o r t h e a c t i o n s o f t h e i rc l a s s m a t e s ( L e w i s , 1 9 9 5 ) . N o t a b l y , t h e r e i s s o m e m o v e m e n ta w a y f r o m t h e i n d i v i d u a l r e s p o n s i b i l i t y o r ie n t a ti o n o f t h e E A ,f o r e x a m p l e , i n c o u r t c a s e s i n w h i c h i t i s a r g u e d t h a t o n e ' sb e h a v i o r s r e s u l t f r o m h o w o n e ' s p a r e n t s t r e a t e d o n e a s a c h i l d .T h i s w i t h i n - c u l t u r e v a r i a b i l i t y d e s e r v e s m o r e s y s t e m a t i c s t u d y .T o th e e x t e n t t h a t i t e x i s ts , i t r e i n f o r c e s t h e p o i n t t h a t t h e c o n -s t r u a l i s o p t i o n a l .

A n o t h e r a s p e c t o f f o l k p s y c h o l o g y t h a t m i g h t b e o p t i o n a l ist h e d e g r e e t o w h i c h a c u l t u r e c o n s i d e r s m e n t a l s t a t e p r o d u c t st o b e s u b j e c t i v e o r o b j e c t i v e . I n E A c u l t u r e , s u b j e c t i v i t y i s o f t e ne m b r a c e d . A s w a s e m p h a s i z e d b y t h e B r i t is h E m p i r i c i s t s, E A sb e l i e v e th a t i t i s n o t s o m u c h t h e e v e n t a s t h e w a y t h a t p e o p l ec o n s t r u e t h e e v e n t t h a t a f f e c t s t h e m . A s a f a m o u s s a y i n g f r o mS h a k e s p e a r e ' s ( c i r c a 1 6 03 / 1 9 1 0 ) Hamletg o e s , ' ' t h e r e ' s n o t h -i n g e i t h e r g o o d n o r b a d b u t t h i n k i n g m a k e s i t s o " ( p . 5 5 ) .B r u n e r ( 1 9 9 0 ) d i s c u s s e d K a h l e r ' s ( 1 9 7 3 , a s c i t e d i n B ru n eT ,1 9 9 0 ) o b s e r v a t i o n t h a t th e m o d e r n n o v e l m i g h t s e n s i t i z e t h er e a d e r t o t h e e x i s t e n c e o f d i f f e r e n t v i e w p o i n t s i n c o n t r a s t t o t h eo m n i s c i e n t n a r ra t o r i n a n A n c i e n t G r e e k d r a m a . H i g h l i g h ti n gt h e s u b j e c t i v i t y o f m i n d s m i g h t b e o p t i o n a l ( H e e l a s , 1 9 8 1 ; L o c k ,1 9 8 1 b ) .

Variations in PreconditionsO t h e r g r o u n d s f o r e x p e c t i n g v a r i a t i o n b e c o m e a p p a r e n t w h e n

c o n s i d e r in g F l a v e l l ' s ( 1 9 7 4 ) t h r e e p r e c o n d i ti o n s f o r s u c c e s s f u l


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6 LILLARDacts of social cognition. These preconditions are themselvesformulated within an implici t theory theory perspective and r e,fleet EA cultural biases, for example, a n assumption that peoplealways think of mental states as preceding behavior. That con-strual might be optional. The preconditions are ( a) knowing ofthe existence of a mental state, (b ) having a need to explain abehavior, and (c) drawing correct inferences. In accordancewith the theory theory, one might see someone search in acupboard for a chocolate bar and feel a need to explain (b) thissearching behavior. Knowing about the desire ( a) and its rela-tion to an action, one probably infers (c) from the person'sbehavior that he or she has a desire to get the chocolate bar. Allthree preconditions suggest the possibility of cultural variation.Exis tence

Consider the first precondition that acknowledging the exis-tence of some mental phenomena is necessary to successfullyengage in an act of social cognition. It is well documented thatthere is cultural variation in the database of emotion constructs.One example is EA s' lack of a conceptual equivalent to lajya(pronoun ced/lud -ja/), a feeling described by Hindu informants(discussed later in Emotion). Lacking lajya in the Americanconceptual system, people do not ascribe it in cases in whicha Hindu would.N e e d

Flavell 's (1974) second precondition, the need to explain, isalso most suited to a theory theory process and might vary indifferent cultural settings. Some cultures might be more orientedtoward explaining behavior than are others and might urge chil-dren to learn and exercise such skills from an early age. SupposeCulture A emphasizes desire as leading to action: In this culture,"because one wants to" is the best reason for doing anything.In contrast, in Culture B, "because one wants to" would veryrarely be thought to motivate behavior, and " because it is pre-scribed" is generally why anyone does anything. In Culture B,people do things because they are following carefully set rules;whereas in Cul ture A, they do so because they want to. 2

Such differences might well result in differences in the needto explain. Specifically, when indiv idual desire is sacrosanct andis considered the major motivator of action, then in a senseevery action is a custom event stemming from a unique set ofcircumstances. Contemplating others' insides could be espe-cially important to understanding actions in such cultures, andthe " nee d to expl ain" by contemplating others' mental statescould be higher than it is in cultures where social norms are

more dictative o f behavior. As an analogy in another domain,Darwi n's (185 9/199 6) inspiration to explain the appearance offinches as resulting from natural selection arose in the contextof the variation he saw in the Gaiapagos Islands. The relativelack of variation in European finches had not so inspired him.Inference

As to Flavell's (1974) third precondition, the actual infer-ences made in acts of social cognition could vary by culture.Clearly, variations in ontology affect inference: If one does not

have the same concepts, one must draw differ ent inferences. Buteven when the same concepts exist, infe rences might differ. Onereason for such differences would be cultural priming(Shweder & Bourne, 1984). Concepts that are well rehearsedare retrieved faster than ones that are not (Anderson, 1976).Cultures repeatedly present certain concepts and not others totheir constituents; to the extent that people pay attention to suchconcepts and the stories in which they are embedded, they arein effect rehearsing certain concepts and their frames. America nculture does not present la jya but often presents happy andsad; hence, Americans will undoubtedly pick out happy and sadquickly, relative to la jya; this will in turn affect inferences.Culture is like a continual priming effect, getting people to thinkabout cer tain concepts and no t others, thereby influencing theinferences people draw.

Although simulation approaches do not generally considerinference to play a part in mindreading, Harris (1995a) hasspecified a developmental account by which inference wouldplay a role. He described a child feeling frightened and hisparents asking, "Are you afraid of the dark?" In this case, theparents label the internal experience as "fear of the dark,"leading the child to later infer that other, similar internal experi-ences are also fear of the dark. To the extent that parents indifferent cultures might label such experiences differently, onemight expect diffe rent inferences. However, as mentioned earlier,simulation theory provides no clear suggestion of how a culturemight arrive at different labels in the first place.

NuanceFinally, here might be variations in aspects of folk psycholog-

ies, even when those aspects appear the same, because of nu-ances underlying apparently similar features. Recall that Wierz-bicka (1992) claimed that all languages have words for want,think, know, and f e e l - - a claim that has appealed to Wellman(1995) and suits Fodor's (1987) nativist arguments as well.Even if the clai m is true regarding words, the question remainsas to whether the concepts delineated really are the same acrosscultures or whether they might vary by culture in importantways. As Lock (1981a) put it,

it is possible that when one proposes some basic universal dimen-sions from one cultural perspective, and finds an apparent fit ofother cultural systems to those dimensions, one has not proposeduniversalsat all. Rather, one has constructed a translation and classi-ficatory system which enables one to gain some understandingofan alien culture by locating elements of their systems within thehermeneutic circle of one's own. (p. 185)For example, perhaps even if all people have a desire word andhence something like a desire concept, such crucial features aswhat causes desire under what conditions, what desires cause(if anythi ng), and so on might be sufficiently variable that one

2 These two views can of course be forged. Another way of puttingtheir motivations s that in Culture A the prescribed rule is to do as onewants and in Culture B what one wants to do is follow the prescribedrule. However, people within one culture see themselves as being moti-vated mainly by their own desires, whereas people in the other seethemselves as being motivated mainly by cultural prescription.


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ETHNOPSYCHOLOGIES 7s h o u l d n o t c a l l t h e E A S S M c o n c e p t o f d e s i r e u n i v e r s a l . I f t h i sw e r e t h e c a s e , t h e n a l t h o u g h s p e c i f i c f o i l p s y c h o l o g i c a l c o n -s t r u c t s m i g h t s h a r e f a m i l y r e s e m b l a n c e s a c r o s s c u l t u r e s , o n ec o u l d n o t d o a c l e a r o n e - t o - o n e m a p p i n g o f e v e n a c o r e s e t o fc o n c e p t s a c r o s s c u l t u r e s .

S u m m a r yO n t h e o n e h a n d , a c t s o f s o c i a l c o g n i t i o n m i g h t v a r y a c r o s s

c u l t u r e s b e c a u s e o f d i f f e r e n c e s i n f o i l p s y c h o l o g i e s . C u l t u r ep r a c t i c e s a r e c e r t a i n l y d i f f e r e n t , a n d f o l k p s y c h o l o g y m i g h t r e -f l e e t t h o s e p r a c t i c e s . C e r t a i n f o l k p s y c h o l o g i c a l i n t e r p r e t a t io n s( e .g . , w h e t h e r c o n t r o l o f t h e i n d i v i d u a l i s c o n s i d e r e d t o b e m o r ei n t e r n a l o r e x t e r n a l ) m i g h t b e o p t i o n a l , b a s e d o n c u l t u r a l p r e f e r -e n c e a t a m o m e n t i n h i s t o r y . F i n a ll y , c u l t u r e s m i g h t o f f e r d i f f e r -e n t m e n t a l c o n s t r u c t s o r d i f f e r e n t l e v e l s o f n e e d t o e x p l a i n b e -h a v i o r s a n d i n t e r n a l s ta t e s , a n d p e o p l e i n d i f f e r e n t c u l t u r e s m i g h td r a w d i f f e r e n t i n f e r e n c e s r e g a r d i n g t h e m . O n t h e o t h e r h a n d ,p e r h a p s t h e r e i s a u n i v e r s a l s e t o f u n d e r s t a n d i n g s a b o u t t h em i n d , d u e t o r e a l s i m i l a r i t i e s i n h o w p e o p l e a r e a n d w h a t t h e ye x p e r i e n c e a c r o s s c u l t u r e s .

H a v i n g a n a p t c h a r a c t e r i z a t i o n o f w h a t i s u n i v e r s a l a n d w h a ti s f re e t o v a r y i n f o i l p s y c h o l o g y c o u l d a i d i n r e s e a r c h e r s'u n d e r s t a n d i n g o f d e v e l o p m e n t ( L i l l a r d , 1 9 9 7 ) . H o w e v e r , t h ee x t a n t d a t a d o n o t a l l o w r e s e a r c h e r s t o a d e q u a t e l y a d d r e s s t h i si s s u e . O p t i m a l l y , t h e y w o u l d h a v e d a t a f r o m c h i l d r e n a n d a d u l t si n a w i d e a r r a y o f c u l t u re s a n d c o u l d e x a m i n e t h e d e v e l o p m e n to f f o l k p s y c h o l o g i e s a c r o s s t h o s e c u l t u r e s t o l o c a t e s i m i l a r i t i e sa n d d i f f e r e n c e s f r o m i n f a n c y o n w a r d . I n t h e a b s e n c e o f s u c hd a t a , w h a t i s p o s s i b l e n o w i s t o l o o k a t t h e e x i s t in g r e l e v a n t d a t a ,m a i n l y f r o m e t h n o g r a p h i es c o n c e r n i n g a d u l t f o i l p s y c h o lo g y , t oc o n s i d e r t h e r a n g e a n d c h a r a c t e r o f v a r i a ti o n . A l t h o u g h o n e c a no n l y d r a w w e a k c o n c l u s i o n s w i t h r e g a r d t o d e v e l o p m e n t , o n ec a n c o n s i d e r s u c h e v i d e n c e i n t h e l i g h t o f a n a d u l t ' s m i n d r e a d i n gp r o c e s s . P r i o r t o l o o k i n g a t t h e e v i d e n c e o f v a r i a t i o n s i n f o l kp s y c h o l o g y , I e x a m i n e s o m e p e r t i n e n t t h e o r e t i c a l i s s u e s .

T H E O R E T I C A L I S S U E S R E G A R D I N G T H EE T H N O G R A P H I C E V I D E N C E

E t h n o g r a p h yT h e m a j o r a n t h r o p o l o g i c a l m e t h o d f o r d o i n g r e s e a r ch i n o t h e r

c u l t u r e s i s ethnography. I n b r i e f , a n a n t h r o p o l o g i s t li v e s a m o n ga g i v e n p e o p l e , o b s e r v es t h em , a n d a s k s " i n f o r m a n t s " f o r fu r -t h e r e x p l a n a t i o n s a b o u t w h a t s h e o r h e s e e s ( H a m r n e r s l y &A t k i n s o n , 1 9 9 5 ; W e i s n e r , 1 9 9 6 ) . T h e g o a l i s n o t o b j e c t i v e o b s e r -v a t i o n , a s i n p s y c h o l o g y , b u t r a t h e r i s im m e r s i o n , d e e p k n o w l -e d g e o f a c u l t u r e , s u c h t h a t o n e m i g h t a c t u a l l y p a r t i c i p a t e i n th a tc u l t u r e . O n e p o s i t i v e a s p e c t o f t h is i s t h e d e p t h o f k n o w l e d g e . An e g a t i v e , f r o m p s y c h o l o g y ' s s t a n d p o i n t , i s t h a t e t h n o g r a p h e r sm i g h t d r a w o u t c e r t a i n f e a t u r e s t h a t s t a t i s t i c a l l y w o u l d n o t h o l du p . B a l a n c i n g t h i s , o n e c a n a r g u e t h a t f o i l p s y c h o l o g i c a l v a r i a -t i o n i s a c t u a l l y h a r d t o p i c k o u t a n d m i g h t a s e a s i l y b ed o w n p l a y e d .

C u l t u r e i s t o t h e p e r s o n a s w a t e r p r e s u m a b l y i s t o t h e f i s h :t h e o n l y m e d i u m t h r o u g h w h i c h o n e h a s e x p e r i e n c e d th e w o r l da n d i s o f te n c o m p l e t e l y o v e r l o o k e d ( J a h o d a , 1 9 9 3 ) . N o t m a n ya n t h r o p o l o g i s t s a p p e a r t o h a v e l o o k e d f o r d i f f e r i n g c o n c e p t s o f

t h e m i n d . P e o p l e s e e m t o a s s u m e t h a t o t h e r s s h a r e t h e i r s a m ei d e a s a b o u t t h e m i n d a n d w o r l d . B e c a u s e m e n t a l s t a t e s a r e i n t e r -n a l , o n e m u s t w o r k t o d i s c e r n d i f f e r e n t c o n c e p t s o f m i n d ; i t i se a s i e r t o i n t e r p re t o t h e rs ' b e h a v i o r s i n o n e ' s o w n f o l k p s y c h o -l o g i c a l t e rm s . E A s e v e n s a y t h a t " t h e c a r d o e s n o t w a n t tos t a r t " a n d " t h e t h e r m o s t a t thinks i t is 5 0 ' ' b e c a u s e p s y c h o l o g i -c a l t e r m s c a n p r o v i d e t h e s i m p l e s t c o n s t r u a ls f o r n o n h u m a ne v e n t s ( D e n n e t t , 1 9 8 7 ) . G i v e n t h a t e v e r y d a y p s y c h o l o g i c a lt e r m s a r e s o w i l l i n g l y a p p l i e d t o e n t i ti e s t h a t o b v i o u s l y d o n o ts h a r e t h e i m p l i e d m e n t a l s t a t e s , i t s e e m s p e o p l e w o u l d h e q u i t el i k e l y t o m a k e t h i s e r r o r i n r e g a r d s t o o t h e r h u m a n b e i n g s a n dt h e i r f o i l p s y c h o l o g i c a l a t t r i b u t i o n s .

E x e m p l i f y i n g t h e d i f f i c u l t y o f p e r c e i v i n g f o l k p s y c h o l o g i c a lv a r i a t i o n , o n e e t h n o g r a p h e r d e s c r i b e d h e r s e l f f i n a l l y r e a l i z i n gt h a t f o r t h e Q u e c h u a g r o u p s h e w a s s t u d y i n g i n t h e A n d e a nh i g h l a n d s , t h e r e w e r e t w o s e l v e s i n a n y g i v e n p e r s o n : o n e e v e r y -d a y s e l f a n d a n o t h e r th a t t a k e s o v e r w h e n o n e i s i n a s o - c a l l e daltered state, l i k e d r e a m i n g o r d r u n k . E v e r y c u l t u r e n e e d s i ns o m e w a y t o m a k e s e n s e o f s u c h a l t er e d s ta t e p h en o m e n a ; " s e c -o n d s e l v e s " w a s t h e i n t e r p r e t a t i o n o f t h i s p a r t i c u l a r o n e . T h ee t h n o g r a p h e r a s k e d t h e Q u e c h u a w h y t h e y h a d f a i l e d t o t e l l h e ra b o u t t h e s e t w o s e l v e s , a n d t h e i n f o r m a n t r e p l i e d t h a t s h e h a dn e v e r a s k e d ( C a r p e n t e r , 1 9 9 2 ) .

A n o t h e r e x a m p l e i s c it e d b y B r u n e r ( 1 9 9 0 ) : B a r t l e tt ( 1 9 3 2 )h a d C a m b r i d g e U n i v e r s i t y s t u d e n t s r e t e l l a f o l k t a l e , l i k e t h eg a m e o f t e l e p h o n e . O n e s t u d e n t p r i v a t e l y t o l d i t t o a n o th e r , w h ot h e n t o l d i t t o a n o t h e r ; a n d s o o n d o w n t h e l i n e . T h e r e s u l tw a s t h a t t he f o i l t a l e b e c a m e i n c r e a s i n g l y a n g l i c i z e d w i t h e a c ht e l l in g . L i k e w i s e , V i n d e n ( 1 9 9 6 ) t o l d C a n a d i a n u n i v e r s i t y s t u -d e n t s a t r a n s l a t e d Q u e c h u a f o l k t a l e t h a t c o n t a i n e d n o m e n t a ls t a t e t e rm s . I n r e t e l l i n g th e t a l e , s t u d e n t s i n s e r t e d m a n y m e n t a ls t a te w o r d s . M a k i n g a f o l k p s y c h o l o g y m o r e l i k e o n e ' s o w nt h a n i t r e a l l y i s m i g h t b e t h e m o r e l i k e l y e r r o r in e t h n o g r a p h i cr e p o r t s .

T h e R e l a t i o n o f L a n g u a g e a n d T h o u g h tA s e c o n d c o n s i d e r a t i o n r e g a r d i n g t h e e v i d e n c e p r e s e n t e d h e r e

i s t h a t s o m e o f i t i s d e r i v e d f r o m l a n g u a g e : C e r t a i n c o n c e p t sa r e d e l i n e a t e d d i f f e r e n t l y o r a r e n o t d e l i n e a t e d a t a l l f r o m l a n -g u a g e t o l a n g u a g e . O n e e x a m p l e o f t h i s i s t h e I f a l u k wordfago ,r e f e r r i n g t o a n e m o t i o n t h a t b e a r s r e s e m b l a n c e t o c o m p a s s i o n ,l o v e , a n d s a d n e s s ( s e e L u t z , 1 9 8 8 ) , I t d e s c r i b e s a p a r e n t ' s l o v ef o r a c h i l d a s w e l l a s o n e ' s r e s p o n s e t o t h e d e a t h o f a l o v e do n e , t w o c o m p l e t e l y d i f fe r e n t f e e l i n g s f o r E A s . D o e s t h i s m e a nt h a t t h e I f a l u k d o n o t d i s c r i m i n a t e t h e s e e m o t i o n s ? D o e s i th a v e a n y m e a n i n g f u l e f f e c t o n d i s c r i m i n a t i o n ? S o m e d i s m i s sl i n g u i s t i c e v i d e n c e f o r c u l t u r a l v a r i a t i o n i n t h o u g h t o n t h eg r o u n d s t h at t h e S a p i r - W h o r f h y p o t he s i s h as b e e n d i s p r o v e na n d h o l d t h a t e x i s t e n c e o f c e r t a i n t e r m s i n a l a n g u a g e h a s n o t h i n gt o d o w i t h t h e c o n c e p t u a l d i s t i n c t i o n s t h a t s p e a k e r s o f th a t l a n -g u a g e c a n a n d d o m a k e ( e . g . , P i nk e r , 1 9 9 4 ) . H o w e v e r , t h i s i s s u eh a s r e c e i v e d c a r e f u l c o n s i d e r a t i o n i n r e c e n t y e a r s , a n d c u r r e n te v i d e n c e l e n d s r e a s o n a b l e s u p p o r t t o t h e h y p o t h e s i s t h a t l a n -g u a g e d o e s i n f l u e n c e t h o u g h t i n m e a n i n g f u l w a y s ( H a r d i n &B a n a j i , 1 9 9 3 ; H u n t & A g n o l i , 1 9 9 1 ; L u c y , 1 9 9 2 ) .

T h e m o s t f o r c e f u l e v i d e n c e a g a i n s t t h e W h o r f i a n p o s i t i o nc a m e f r o m s e m i n a l s t u d i e s o n c o l o r p e r ce p t i o n. B e r l i n a n d K a y ' s( 1 9 6 9 ) f i n d i n g o f a c o n s i s t e n t h i e r a r c h y i n t h e d e n o t i n g o f c o l o r


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8 LILLARDt e r m s a c r o s s l a n g u a g e s w a s o n e m a j o r s t r i k e a g a i n s t th e t h e o r y.L a n g u a g e s w i t h o n l y t w o c o l o r t e rm s i n v a r i a b l y d e n o t e b l a c ka n d w h i t e ; w h e n a t h i r d c o l o r i s a d d e d , i t i s a l w a y s r e d ; a f o u r t hw o u l d b e g r e e n , b l u e , o r y e l lo w ; a n d s o o n . P e r c e p t i o n a p p e a r e dt o b e g u i d i n g l a n g u a g e r a t h e r t h a n t h e r e v e r s e . T h e n R o s c h( p u b l i s h e d a s E . R . H e i d e r , 1 9 7 2 ) r e p o r t e d t h a t t h e D a n i , d e s p i t eo n l y u s i n g t w o c o l o r t e r m s , r e m e m b e r e d f o c a l c o l o r s b e t t e r t h a nn o n f o c a l o n es . T h i s s e r v e d t h e c r o w n i n g b l o w t o t h e S a p i r -W h o r l h y p o t h e s i s . O b v i o u s l y p e r c e p t i o n , n o t l a n g u a g e , w a sg u i d i n g t h o u g h t . I n f a c t , h o w e v e r , a s w a s n o t e d b y R o s c h , am o r e p r o d u c t i v e r e a d i n g o f t h e s e r e s u l t s i s t h a t t h e d o m a i n o fc o l o r is p r o b a b l y n o t a g o o d p l a c e t o l o o k f o r e v i d e n c e f o r o ra g a i n s t t h e h y p o t h e s i s b e c a u s e i t i s a d o m a i n i n w h i c h p e r c e p t i o nr a t h e r t h a n c o n c e p t i o n d o m i n a t e s . T h e p h y s i o l o g y o f t h e e y e i ss o r e s p o n s i b l e f o r h o w o n e p e r c e i v e s a n d r e c a l l s c o l o r s t h a t i tm a y c o m p l e t e l y o v e r s h a d o w a n y l i n g u i s t i c e f f e c t s . ( A s s e e nb e l o w , t h i s i s n o t a b s o l u t e l y th e c a s e . ) H o w e v e r , c o m i n g a s i td i d a t a t i m e w h e n t h e i d e a t h a t t h e e n v i r o n m e n t s t r u c t u r e se x p e r i e n c e i n u n i v e r s a l l y i n v a r i a n t w a y s ( G i b s o n i a n a f f o r d a n -c e s ) w a s v e r y p o p u la r , a n d d u e t o c o n c e r n s a b o u t W h o r f ' sc l a i m s g e n e r al l y ( t h e E s k i m o s n o w w o r d h o a x b e i n g t h e m o s tf a m o u s e x a m p l e ) , t h e h y p o t h e s i s f e l l in t o d i s f a v o r . ,Th is d i s f a v o rw a s d i r e c t e d a t t h e e x t r e m e v e r s i o n o f t h e W h o r f i a n h y p o t h e s i s( t h a t l a n g u a g e d e t e r m i n e s t h o u g h t ) b u t h a d t h e e f f e c t o f a l s od i s c o u n t i n g t h e m o r e m o d e r a t e c l a i m t h a t l a n g u a g e i n f l u e n c e st h o u g h t . ( S e e S e r a , B e r g e , & d e l C a s t i l o P i n t a d o , 1 9 94 , a n d t h er e v i e w s m e n t i o n e d e a r l i e r f o r a t h o u g h t f u l d i s c u s s i o n o f S a p i r ' sa n d W h o r f ' s c l ai m s .)

M o r e r e c e n t e v i d e n c e p r o v i d e s s u b s t a n t i a l s u p p o r t f o r t h eh y p o t h e s i s t h a t l a n g u a g e i n f l u e n c e s t h o u g h t . S o m e o f t h i s e v i -d e n c e e v e n c o m e s f r o m t h e d o m a i n o f v i si o n . K a y a n d K e m p t o n( 1 9 8 4 ) s h o w e d p a r t i c i p a n t s s e ts o f t h r e e c o l o r t a b l e t s v a r y i n ga l o n g a b l u e - g r e e n c o n t i n u u m a n d f o r e a c h s e t a s k e d t h em t os p e c i f y w h i c h c o l o r t a b l e t w a s m o s t d i f f e r e n t f r o m t h e o t h e rt w o . S o m e p a r t i c i p a n t s s p o k e T a r a h u m a r a , i n w h i c h t h e r e i sn o b l u e - g r e e n d i s t i n c t i o n , w h e r e a s o t h e r s s p o k e E n g l i s h . T h eE n g l i s h - s p e a k i n g p a r t i c i p a n t s s h o w e d c a t e g o r i c a l p e r c e p t i o n i nt h e ir j u d g m e n t s , b u t t h e M e x i c a n - I n d i a n T a r a h u m a r a s p e a k e r sd i d n o t . M o r e i m p o r t a n t , t h e d i f f e r e n c e d i s a p p e a r e d i n a m a n i p u -l a t i o n d e s i g n e d t o m a k e l a b e l u s e i r r e l e v a n t . I n t h e s e e x p e r i -m e n t s , t h e n , h a b i t u a l l a n g u a g e u s e d i d i n f l u e n c e h o w p a r t i c i -pan t s though t abou t Co lors .

A n o t h e r e x a m p l e i s p r o v i d e d b y S e r a e t a l . ( 1 9 9 4 ) , w h ol o o k e d f o r i n f l u e n c e s o f g e n d e r o n n o u n s f o r S p a n i s h a n d E n g l i s hs p e a k e r s . W h e n a s k e d i f g i v e n i t e m s w e r e m o r e m a s c u l i n e o rm o r e f e m i n i n e , S p a n is h s p e a k e r s te n d e d t o j u d g e t h e m a c -c o r d i n g t o h o w t h e y w e r e g e n d e r e d i n S p a n i s h ; E n g l i s h s p e a k e r sd i d n o t j u d g e t h e m i n t h i s w a y .I n t h e r e a l m o f s o c i a l c o g n i t i o n , H o f f m a n , L a u , a n d J o h n s o n( 1 9 8 6 ) p r e s e n te d C h i n e s e - E n g l i s h b i l in g u a l s w i t h t w o w r i t t e nd e s c r i p t i o n s o f p e o p l e , e i t h e r in C h i n e s e o r i n E n g l i s h . T h e t w od e s c r i p t i o n s f i t s p e c i fi c p e r s o n a l i t y t y p e s d e n o t e d b y a s i n g l ew o r d i n E n g l i s h ( a r t i s t i c , l i b e r a l ) b u t n o t i n C h i n e s e o r b y as i n g l e C h i n e s e w o r d b u t n o t a s i n g l e E n g l i s h o n e . F i v e d a y sl a t e~ p a r t i c i p a n t s w e r e a s k e d t o p e r f o r m s e v e r a l e x e r c i s e s c o n -c e r n i n g t h e c h a r a c t e r s t h e y h a d r e a d a b o u t p r e v i o u s l y . P a r t i c i -p a n t s m a d e m o r e i n f e r e n c e s a n d e x h i b i t e d b e t t e r r e c a l l f o r c h a r -a c t e r i s t ic s o f p e o p l e a b o u t w h o m t h e y h a d r e a d w h e n t h e c h a r a c -t e r fi t a o n e - w o r d d e s c r i p t i o n i n th e l a n g u a g e i n w h i c h t h e y

w e r e r e a d i n g a b o u t t h e c h a r a c t e r . I n O th er w o r d s , a l t h o u g h t h ep a r t i c ip a n t s w e r e C h i n e s e - E n g l i s h b i l in g u a l s , p a rt i c ip a n t s w h or e a d t h e E n g l i s h v e r s i o n o f t h e d e s c r i p t i o n s o f t h e l i b e r a l p e r s o ns h o w e d b e t t e r r e c a l l o f t h e d e s c r i p t i o n t h a n p a r t i c i p a n t s w h or e a d t h a t e x a c t s a m e d e s c r i p t i o n t r a n s l a te d i n t o C h i n e s e , w h i c hh a s n o w o r d f o r l i b e r a l . T h e p a r t i c i p a n t s a l l p r e s u m a b l y h a dt h e c o n c e p t l i b e r a l b e c a u s e t h e y a l l k n e w E n g l i s h w e l l . H o w e v e r ,t h e E n g l i s h l a n g u a g e a p p e a r e d t o f a c i l i t a t e a c c e s s t o t h e s c h e m a ,w h e r e a s t h e C h i n e s e l a n g u a g e d i d n o t .

M a n y m o r e e x a m p l e s s u p p o r t i n g t h e t h e s i s t h a t l a n g u a g e i n -f l u e n c e s t h o u g h t a r e r e v i e w e d i n t h e a r t i c l e s c i t e d e a r l i e r ( s e ea l s o G o p n i k , C h o i , & B a u m b e r g e r , 1 9 9 6 ) . T a k e n t o g e th e r , t h e s es t u d i e s s u g g e s t t h a t l a n g u a g e h i g h l i g h t s c e r t a i n c o n c e p t s r e l a t i v et o o t h e r s a n d t h a t r e s e a r c h e r s m i g h t t h i n k o f l a n g u a g e , l i k ec u l t u r e , a s a c o n t i n u a l p r i m i n g a f f e c t . A l t h o u g h p e o p l e c a n a n dd o e n t e r t a i n c o n c e p t s n o t d e l i n e a t e d i n t h e i r l a n g u a g e , h a v i n gc e r t a i n c o n c e p t s p r i m e d i n o n e ' s l i n g u i s t i c c o m m u n i t y i s b o u n dt o a f f e c t i n n o n t r i v i a l w a y s t h e ir , a v a i l a b i l i t y f o r u s e i n t h e f o l k -p s y c h o l o g i c a l e n t e r p r i se . " W e s e e a n d h e a r a n d o t h e r w i s e e x p e -r i e n c e v e r y l a r g e l y a s w e d o b e c a u s e t h e l a n g u a g e h a b i t s o f o u rc o m m u n i t y p r e d i s p o s e c e r t a in c h o i c e s o f i n t e r p r e ta t i o n " ( S a p i ri n M a n d e l b a u m , 1 9 4 9 , a s c i te d in O c h s , 1 9 8 8 , p . 1 3 0 ) .

T r a n s l a t i n g C o n c e p t u a l S y s t e m sI n g o i n g i n t o a n o t h e r c u l t u r e t o d o r e s e a r c h , o n e f a c e s w h a t

s e e m s ( r i g h t l y o r w r o n g l y ) e v e n m o r e d i f f i c u l t t h a n d o i n g r e -s e a r c h w i t h c h i l d r e n o r a n i m a l s . W i t h t h e l a t t e r t w o g r o u p s , o n ea t t e m p t s t o s i m p l i f y ta s k s s o t h a t t h e y w i l l b e u n d e r s t o o d b yg r o u p m e m b e r s . I n w o r k i n g w i t h a n o t h e r c u l t u r e , h o w e v e r , o n ef i n d s t h a t s i m p l i c i t y w i l l n o t d o t h e j o b u n l e s s t h e r e a r e u n i v e r s a lf u n d a m e n t a l s . O n e m u s t t r a n s l a t e o n e ' s c o n c e p t s i n t o a n o t h e rc o n c e p t u a l s y s t e m ; w h e n w o r l d v i e w s a r e e x t r e m e l y d i f f e re n t ,t h i s c a n b e d i f f i c u l t i f n o t i m p o s s i b l e . A s B a t e s o n a n d M e a d( 1 9 42 , a s c i t e d b y P . J . M i l l e r & H o o g s t r a , 1 9 9 2 ) p u t i t , " t h ew o r d s w h i c h o n e c u l t u r e h a s i n v e s t e d w i t h m e a n i n g a r e b y t h ev e r y a c c u r a c y o f t h e i r c u l t u r a l f i t , s i n g u l a r l y i n a p p r o p r i a t e a sv e h i c le s f o r p re c i s e c o m m e n t u p o n a n o t he r c u l t u r e " ( p . 9 4 ) .T h e c h o i c e t h e n s e e m s t o b e e i t h e r t h a t t h e r e a r e f u n d a m e n t a lu n i v e r s a l s o r t h a t o n e c a n n o t u n d e r s t a n d o t h e r c u l t u r e s .

H o w e v e r , t h e r e i s a t h i r d p o s s i b i l i ty . E v e n w i t h o u t u n i v e r s a lf u n d a m e n t a l c o n c e p t s , o n e c a n p e r h a p s w o r k t h r o u g h o n e ' s o w nc o n c e p t s t o t h o s e o f a n o t h e r c u l t u r e t o m a k e g o o d e n o u g h s e n s eo f t h o s e o f t h e o t h e r c u l t u r e . O n e c a n l e a r n a b o u t t h e o n t o l o g i c a ld i s t i n c t i o n s , t h e c a u s a l r e l a t i o n s , a n d s o o n a n d f o r g e s o m e s o r to f u n d e r s t a n d i n g . O n e m u s t f i n d " t h e l o g i c o f t h e i r w a y s o fp u t t i n g [ t hi n g s ] i n t h e l o c u t i o n s o f o u r s " ( G e e r t z , 1 9 8 3 , p . 1 0 ) .I n d e e d , c o n s i d e r i n g t h i s i s s u e i n c o n j u n c t i o n w i t h t h a t o f t h er e l a t i o n s h i p b e t w e e n l a n g u a g e a n d t h o u g h t , W i e r z b i c k a ( 1 9 9 2 )p o i n t e d o u t t h a t a c u l t u r e ' s u s e o f l e x i c a l i t e m s t h a t a r e n o ti n c l u d e d i n t h e l e x i c o n o f s o m e o t h e r c u l t u r e i s i t s e l f a w i n d o wi n t o c u l t u r a l d i f f e re n c e s . T h i s d i f f e r e n c e c a n b e e x p l o i t e d f o r t h eg o a l o f u n d e r s t a n d i n g a c r o s s c u l t u r e s . A l t h o u g h t h e t r a n s l a t i o np r o c e s s m i g h t b e c u m b e r s o m e a n d n e c e s s a r i l y im p e r f e c t, i t i sp o s s i b l e t o a t le a s t m a k e a g o o d a p p r o x i m a t i o n .

A d a u n t i n g p r o b l e m h e r e , m u c h d i s c u s s e d i n re c e n t a n t h r o p o l -o g y , i s t h a t o f e t h n o g r a p h e r s u b j e c t i v i ty . " I n a n t h r o p o l o g y , t h em a i n c o n d i t i o n o f k n o w l e d g e i s s t i l l r e l a t e d t o t h e i n d i v i d u a lf i e l d w o r k , w h i c h c a n n o t b e c o n c e i v e d i n d e p e n d e n t l y o f th e s u b -


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ETHNOPSYCHOLOGIESject; there is no experience apart from the experiencer, no knowl-edge without a knower" (Hastrup, 1994, p. 227). Rather thancrum blin g under this relativism, however, anthropology mightexplore both the culture of the observer and that of the observed(Shweder, 1991 ). G ood ethnographers appea r to bear this issuein mind when in the field (e, g, Rosaldo, ,1980).

Use Versus AvailabilityBecause of the way ethnographic evidence is acquired, it is

difficult to assess use versus availability or performance versuscompetence. As discussed later, use is often what is at issue inthe reports discussed below. Two cultures might both have agiven concept, but one might e mphasize it more than the otherculture does. Ochs (1988) stated that

cross-cultural differences are not necessarily categorical, i.e.,"These people do x; those people don't do x." Instead, many cross-cultural differences reside in the preferential organization of actsand events. Many differences are differences n statistical frequency,i.e., "These people do x much more frequently han those people";other differences are context-sensitive, i.e., "These people do xunder these circumstances; those people do not do x under thesame circumstances but they do x under different circumstances";"These people prefer x as an initial strategy." (p. 135)This approach bears similarity to that advocated by Siegler

(1996) regarding child development: thinking in terms o f avail-ability and degrees of use rather than in terms of present or notpresent. Applied here, the point is that although all people mightbe able, for example, to describe others' behaviors in terms oftraits or in terms of situations, the important question is whatthey actually do in their everyday lives.

ContextFor reasons of space, the accounts below are necessar ily brief.Ideally, one could include a full-length account of each cultureto richly construct the system in which the relevant folk psycho-logical concepts are embedded. However, in the interest of pre-senting a range of cultures, I instead take brief samples frommany reports. To render some aspect of an entire folk psycholog-ical theory in just a few sentences is of course a false enterprise.As parts of entire folk psychological systems, the informationgiven here loses much of its richness and complexity taken outof context. Because of this decontextualization, the reportsmigh t in places come across as a series of oddities: These peoplehave a strange concept of desire, those ones have a strange wayof thinking about agency, and so on: However, these odditiesmake sense when one reads about the different cultural struc-tures of meaning and practice in which they are embedded.Interested readers are urged to go to the original ethnographicaccounts.

Evolut ionismCertain reports suggest that adults in other cultures are simil ar

to children in EA culture, inviting an interpretation of evolu-tionism in which EA culture is the most advanced and othercultures are slowly marching toward EA conceptualizations. Itis possible that schooling or complexity promotes certain types

of understandings and that as these other cultu res change inthose directions, their understandings will come to re semble theEA one. However, it is also the case that from the other cultures'perspective, EA adults might in some ways resemble their chil-dren. For example, the EAS SM's notion that one acts in accor-dance with one's desires might seem extremely childlike forother cultures.

THEORIES OF MIND ACROSS CULTURESThis section presents evidence from non- EA cultures and the

EA culture during earlier historical periods as it applies to theo-ries of mind. I begin by looking at the concept of mind, thenexamine ways of conceptfializing the relation between the mindand the world, and end by considering some aspects of threecentral mental state domains (perception, emotion, and think-ing) as they are viewed in different cultures. It should be notedthat this particular organization is in itself reflective of an EAorientation to the mental world (as is, indeed, the existence ofthis article, .the theory o f mind research area; etc. ). Variationsare considered both in terms of whether they reflect differencesonly in emphasis or in possibility and in terms of their implica-tions for the mindreading process.

MindThe European American Social Science Model

Below, I discuss four aspects of the EA SSM of mind : itsfunction, what it is identified with, some of its characteristics,and its importance as suggested by the amount of overt attentionpaid to it. Following this, several other cultural views of mindare presented. As was stated earlier, representations of theEASSM are based on a rather sparse data set and certainlydo not include the range of variation represented in the EAcommunity. It would behoove researchers to carry on the mis-sion E Heider set out in 1958 to develop a much richer portraitof EA folk psychology, including regional , economic, religious,and ethnic variations.

Func~onIn the EASSM, the mi nd is the seat of mental processes and

states. One source of evidence for this is a set of lengthy inter-views with Americans by D'Andr ade (1987, 1995), which ledto his creating the model depicted in Figure 1. The contents ofthe mind prOper are mental states, like thoughts and feelings,and the menta l processes that lead to those states (thinking andfeeling). More details on these processes are provided in latersections.

Wellm an's (1990) extensive thinking and experimental workon children's theories of mind resulted in the model depictedin Figure 2. Although Wellman's and D' Andr ade 's ( 1995 ) mod-els are somewhat different in their details, what is most strikingare their similarities. Relevant to the current point, the mindsupports an array of men tal states, such as thoughts, emotions,and desires. A striking addition to Wellman's diagram of themind is the inclusion of trait concepts: Although traits are notmental processes like thinking and wanting, they are conceptual-


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10 LILLARD

I E v e n t I - - I ) [ P e r c e p t i o n ] ' ~ 1

- - ~ D i r e c t c a u s e( - - - I n f l u e n c e

I E x p r e s s i v e / R e f le x c t [,a

Figure 1. The folk model of the m ind. From The Development of Cognitive Anthropology (p. 162), byR. D'Andrade, 1995, Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press. Copyright 1995 by CambridgeUniversity Press. Reprinted with perm ission.

i z e d a s a n i n t e r n a l i n f l u e n c e o n b e h a v i o r a n d h e n c e a r e p a r t o ft h e E A t h e o r y o f m i n d . ( F o r a d i s c u s s i o n o f m e n t a l s t a t e s v s .p r o c e s s es , s e e D ' A n d r a d e , 1 9 8 7. )T h e r e s u l t s o f e x p e r i m e n t a l w o r k a r e c o n s i s t e n t w i t h t h e s ef i g u r es . R i p s a n d C o n r a d ( 1 9 8 9 ) a s k e d a g r o u p o f 2 0 a d u l t s tOr a t e t h e i m p o r t a n c e o f v a r i o u s a c t i v i t i e s i n h o w t h e m i n d o p e r -a t e s . A l l m e n t a l s t a t e s ( e . g . , r e m e m b e r i n g , i m a g i n i n g , a n dd r e a m i n g ) o b t a i n e d f a i r l y h i g h r a t i n g s , a n d t h e h i g h e s t r a t i n g sw e r e o b t a i n e d b y t h i n k i n g a n d h a v i n g e m o t i o n s . J o h n s o n a n dW e l l m a n ( 1 9 8 2 ) a s k e d 1 4 a d u l t s w h e t h e r t h e b r a i n w a s n e e d e df o r v a r i o u s a c t s . A l l p a r t i c i p a n t s a g r e e d t h a t i t w a s n e e d e d f o rt h i n k i n g , k n o w i n g , a n d r e m e m b e r i n g a s w e l l a s f o r a v a r i e t y o fs c h o o l t a s k s l i k e w r i t i n g a n d f o r t h e c o g n i t i v e e m o t i o n o f b e i n gc u r i o u s . O v e r 8 5 % a g r e e d i t w a s n e e d e d f o r a c t s o f p e r c e p t io n ,f o r o t h e r f e e l i n g s ( b e i n g s a d , b e i n g h u n g r y ) , a n d f o r s i m p l ev o l u n t a r y m o t o r a c t s ( e . g , c l a p p i n g ) . I n o t h e r e x p e r i m e n t s ,

J o h n s o n a n d W e l l m a n a s k e d y o u n g e r a n d o l d e r c h i l d r e n a b o u tw h e t h e r t h e m i n d w a s n e e d e d f o r s u c h t a s k s a n d o b t a i n e d r e s u l t sf r o m t h e o l d e r c h i ld r e n t h a t c o r r e s p o n d e d w i t h t h e a d u l t r e -s p o n s e s a b o u t w h e t h e r t h e b r a i n i s n e e d e d , s u g g e s t i n g t h a t m i n da n d b r a i n a r e i n t e r c h a n g e a b l e i n t h i s p a r a d i g m .

I n s u m m a r y , m a j o r f u n c t i o n s o f t h e m i n d i n t h e E A v i e w ,j u d g i n g f r o m t h i s d a t a , a r e h o u s i n g m e n t a l s t a t e s a n d g e n e r a t i n gm e n t a l p r o c e s s e s . R e g a r d i n g e m o t i o n s , i t s e e m s t h a t E A a d u l t st h i n k t h e m i n d i s o f t e n r e s p o n s i b l e f o r f e e l i n g s . I n a d d i t i o n ,h o w e v e r, p e o p l e a l s o t e n d t o v i e w m i n d s a s r a t i o n a l a n d a s a b l et o c o n t r o l o r o v e r c o m e e m o t i o n s . T h e d a t a r e p o r t e d h e r e p e r h a p sr e f l e c t a v i e w t h a t m i n d s a r e r e s p o n s i b l e f o r e m o t i o n s b e c a u s et h e y p r o v i d e t h e d a t a a n d t h e i n t e r p r e t a t i o n f o r t h o s e f e e l i n g s ,a l t h o u g h i t s e e m s t h e r e i s a s p e c i a l a s p e c t o f m i n d r e s e r v e d f o rr a t i o n a l t h o u g h t ( W i e r z b i c k a , 1 9 9 2 ; s e e D a m a s i o , 1 9 9 4 , f o rp r o b l e m s w i t h t h i s v i e w ) .

Figure 2. The European American theory of mind. From The Child's Theory of Mind (pp. 100, 109, and114), by H. M. Wellman, 1990, Cambridge,/vIA: MIT Press. Cop)night 1990 by MIT Press. Adapted withpermission.


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ETHNOPSYCHOLOGIES 11Identi ty

I n t h e E A v i e w , t h e m i n d i s l o c a t e d i n a n d o f t e n i d e n t i f i e dw i t h t h e b r a i n . F o r e x a m p l e , t h e American H eritage Dictionary( 1 9 9 4 ) d e f i n ed m i n d a s " t h e h u m a n c o n s c i o u s n e s s th a t o r i g i-n a t e s i n t h e b r a i n a n d i s m a n i f e s t e d e s p e c i a l l y i n t h o u g h t , p e r -c e p t i o n , e m o t i o n , w i l l , m e m o r y , a n d i m a g i n a t i o n . " D e s p i t e t h i si d e n t it y , t h e m i n d i s a l s o s e e n a s d i s t i n c t f r o m t h e b o d y , a d i v i -s i o n r e f e r r e d t o a s t h e Cartesian split ( R y l e , 1 9 4 9 ) , I d e n t i f y i n gm i n d w i t h b r a i n w h i l e s i m u l t a n e o u s l y s e e i n g m i n d a s d i s t i n c tf r o m b o d y r e f l e c t s a n i n c o n s i s t e n c y i n t h e E A t h e o r y o f m i n d .

T h e m i n d i s a l s o i d e n t i f i e d w i t h t h e s e l f i n t h e E A v i e w , a si s a p p a r e n t i n J o h n s o n ' s ( 1 9 9 0 ) s t u d y o f c h i l d r e n ' s u n d e r s ta n d -i n g o f h o w b r a i n t r a n s p l a n t s w o u l d a f f e c t id e n t i ty . A d u l t s w e r en o t t e s t e d , b u t E A 1 0 - y e a r - o l d s s h o w e d e v i d e n c e o f b e l i e v i n gw h a t J o h n s o n i n t u i t e d w a s t h e a d u l t u n d e r s t a n d i n g : t h a t a b r a i nt r a n s p l a n t h a s t h e e f f e c t o f t r a n s p l a n t i n g t h e s e l f .Character i s t i cs

S o m e i m p o r t a n t c h a r a c te r i s ti c s o f t h e m i n d i n t h e E A S S Ma r e t h a t i t i s p r i v a t e b u t k n o w a b l e . I n p a r t b e c a u s e o f t h e s eo p p o s i n g c h a r a c t e r i s t i c s , h o w o n e k n o w s o t h e r s ' m i n d s i s p r o m -i n e n t in p h i l o s o p h i c a l d i s c o u r s e ( e . g . , D a v i e s & S t o n e , 1 9 9 5 a ,1 9 9 5 b ) a s w e l l a s i n th e l i t e r a t u r e o n c h i l d r e n ' s u n d e r s t a n d i n go f t h e m i n d ( C a r r u t h e r s & S m i t h , 1 9 9 6 ; F la v e U & M i l l e r, i np r e s s ; L e w i s & M i t c h e l l , 1 9 9 4 ; M o s e s & C h a n d l e r , 1 9 9 2 ) . D e -s p i t e t h a t m i n d s a r e p r i v a t e , E A s c l a i m t o b e a b l e t o k n o w ( o ra t le a s t gu e s s " b e y o n d a r e a s o n a b l e d o u b t " ) t h e c on t e n ts o fo t h e r s ' m i n d s . M a l l e ( 1 9 9 4 ) s h o w e d t h a t A m e r i c a n c o l l e g e s t u-d e n t s e v e n m a d e u p r e a s o n s f o r t h e b e h a v i o r s o f p e r f e c t s t r a n g -e r s , fo r e x a m p l e , w h y a f i c t i o n a l p e r s o n n a m e d A n n e i n v i t e ds o m e o n e t o h a v e l u n c h w i t h h er . H u t c h i n s ( 1 9 7 4 ) r e p o r t e d s i m i -l a r f i n d i n g s , a n d t h e p o s t u l a t e i s c l e a r a l s o i n t h e l i t e r a t u r e o na t t r i b u t io n . A l t h o u g h t h e y a r e p r i v a t e , o t h e r s ' m i n d s c a n g e n e r -a l l y b e k n o w n .

A n o t h e r f e a t u r e o f m i n d s i s c o n t a i n m e n t , p o r t r a y e d i n t h ec l a s s ic G e e r t z ( 1 9 7 5 ) d e s c r ip t i o n :

the Western conception of the person as a bounded, unique, moreor less integrated motivational and cognitive universe, a dynamiccenter of awareness, emotion, judgment, and action organized intoa distinctive whole and set contrastively both against other suchwholes and against a social and natural background. (p. 48)E A s t h i n k m i n d s r e m a i n w i t h a n d i n s i d e p e o p l e .

I n a d d i t i o n , in t h e E A v i e w , m i n d s a r e m e d i a t o r s b e t w e e n t h ew o r d a n d o n e ' s r e s p o n se t o i t. I n D ' A n d r a d e ' s ( 1 9 8 7 ) a n dW e l l m a n ' s ( 1 9 9 0 ) d i a g r a m s , f o r e x a m p l e , t h o u g h t m e d i a t e sf e e l i n g s o r e m o t i o n s . T h e e x t e r n a l w o r l d e n t e r s t h e m i n d t h r o u g hp e r c e p t i o n s , a n d t h e m i n d c a u s e s c h a n g e s i n t h e w o r l d t h r o u g hi n t e n t i o n s l e a d i n g to a c t i o n s . H e n c e , D a v i d s o n ( 1 9 8 0 ) c l a i m e d ," t h e f a c t th a t s o m e o n e s a n k t h e Bismarck e n t a i l s t h a t h e m o v e dh i s b o d y i n a w a y t h a t w a s c a u s e d b y m e n t a l e v e n t s " ( p . 1 0 8 ) .H o w e x a c t l y m e n t a l s u b s t a n c e c a n c a u s e p h y s i c a l c h a n g e i sh o t l y d e b a t e d i n ' p h i l o s o p h y , w h i c h i s i n d i c a t i v e o f E A s t f o l kb e l i e f : I f E A s d i d n o t b e l i e v e t h a t m i n d s c a u s e d e v e n t s , E Ap h i l o s o p h e r s w o u l d n o t t r o u b l e o v e r t h e i s s u e . T h i s v i e w o fm i n d a s a m e d i a t o r i s a l s o a p r e m i s e o f c o g n i t i v e t h e ra p y .

A s w a s m e n t i o n e d i n t h e i n t r o d u c t i o n , a n o t h e r a n g l e o n t h i s

f e a t u r e o f m i n d s i s t h a t t h e E A o r i e n t a t i o n i s s u b j e c t i v e : E A sh i g h l i g h t h o w d i f f e r e n t p e o p l e m i g h t h a v e d i f f e r e n t r e s p o n s e st o t h e s a m e o b j e c t i v e r e a li t y . I t i s n o t s o m u c h t h e e v e n t i t s e l fa s t h e w a y E A s v i e w t h e e v e n t t h a t i n f l u e n c e s h o w t h e y a c t . I nl i n e w i t h t h i s , F l a v e l l , F l a v e l l , an d G r e e n ( p e r s o n a l c o m m u n i c a -t i o n , M a y 1 9 9 6 ) f o u n d t h a t a d u l t s e x p l a i n e m o t i o n s w i t h r e f e r -e n c e t o t h o u g h ts . F o r e x a m p l e , i f a s k e d w h y s o m e o n e w h o i sb r u s h i n g h e r t e e t h s u d d e n l y b e g i n s t o f e e l v e r y s a d , m o s t a d u l t sw i l l r e f e r t o a c h a n g e i n h e r t h o u g h t s r a t h e r t h a n a c h a n g e i ns i tua t ion .

Imp o r t a n c eI f o n e a c c e p t s t h e p r e m i s e t h a t a l a r g e v o c a b u l a r y f o r a g i v e n

a r e a i n d i c a t e s t h a t t h e a r e a i s o f g r e a t i m p o r t i n t h e c u l t u r e , i tw o u l d a p p e a r t h a t p s y c h o l o g i c a l st a t e s a r e o f g r e a t i m p o r t t ot h e E A . O v e r 2 , 0 00 E n g l i s h w o r d s a r e d e v o t e d t o t h e e m o t i o n sa l o n e ( W a l l a c e & C a r s o n , 1 9 7 3 ) . I n o n e s i m p l e p r o c e d u r e o fa s k i n g p a r t i c i p a n t s t o d e s c r i b e h o w a d v e r t i s e m e n t s m i g h t c a u s ep e o p l e t o b u y c e r t a i n p r o d u c t s a n d w h e r e u s i n g a v a r i e t y o ft e r m s w a s n o t e v e n a g o a l , 2 0 A m e r i c a n p a r t i c i p a n t s y i e l d e d o v e r2 5 0 d i f f e r e n t p s y c h o l o g i c a l t e r m s ( F r i e s t a d & W r i g h t , 1 9 9 5 ) . I nk e e p i n g w i t h t h i s , E A s p a y a n d a s s u m e o t h e r s p a y a g r e a t d e a lo f a t te n t i o n to m i n d s . L e w i s a n d M i t c h e l l ( 1 9 9 4 ) , i n t h e in t r o -d u c t i o n t o t h e i r r e c e n t e d i t e d v o l u m e , w r o t e t h a t " o v e r t h e p a s tc o u p l e o f d e c a d e s t h e r e h a s b e e n a n i n c r e a s i n g c o n s e n s u s t h a to u r l E A ] p a s s i o n f o r d w e l l i n g u p o n p s y c h o l o g i c a l m a tt e rs f o r m sa c e n t r a l p a r t o f t h e h u m a n c o n d i t i o n " ( p . 1 ) .

T h e m i n d ' s i m p o r t a n c e i s a l s o e v i d e n t i n t h a t i n t e n t i o n s ,w h i c h a r i s e f r o m m i n d s , f i g u r e i m p o r t a n t l y i n h o w E A s v i e wp e o p l e ' s a c t i o n s . S o m e e x a m p l e s o f t h is a r e u n i n t e n t io n a l f o u l si n s p o r t s , c h a r g e s o f m a n s l a u g h t e r v e r s u s m u r d e r ; a n d " I d i dn o t m e a n t o " a s a m e a n s o f r e d e m p t i o n ( S h a n t z , 1 9 8 3 ; S h a v e r,1 9 8 5 ) . A l s o i n d i c a t i v e o f t h e m i n d ' s i m p o r t a n c e i s i t s re l a t i o nt o t h e s e l f : E A s v a l u e k n o w i n g t h e m s e l v e s a n d o t h e r s a t a p s y -c h o l o g i c a l l e v e l ( t h e C h r i s t i a n g o a l to " ' k n o w t h y s e l f " v s . th eB u d d h i s t o n e to " f o r g e t t h e s e l f " ) . T h i s i s re f l e ct e d i n E Ap s y c h o l o g i s t s ' i n t e re s t i n t h e s e l f - c o n c e p t ( N e i s s e r , 1 9 9 3 ) .

S u m m a r yF r o m t h e a v a i l a b l e d a t a o n t h e E A S S M , t h e m i n d i s c o n s id -

e r e d t o b e t h e s e a t o f m e n t a l p r o c e s s e s a n d s t a t e s , i n c l u d i n gi n t e n t i o n a n d t h e r e b y a c t i o n . I t i s e q u a t e d w i t h t h e s e l f a n d i sd i s t i n c t f r o m t h e b o d y , w h i l e b e i n g i d e n t i f i e d w i t h t h e b r a i n .T h e m i n d i s a m e d i a t o r a n d a s u b j e c t iv e p r o c e s s o r : H o w o n ep e r c e i v e s e v e n t s i s m o r e i m p o r t a n t t h a n t h e e v e n t s t h e m s e l v e s .E A s b e l i e v e t h a t t h e y c a n a n d s h o u l d k n o w m i n d s , a n d t h e y g os o f a r a s t o b a s e l e g a l d e c i s i o n s o n t h e s e e s t i m a t i o n s o f o t h e r s 'in ten t ions .

Other Cu l turesB e l o w , I c o n s i d e r v a r i a t i o n f r o m t h i s c h a r a c t e r i z a t i o n o f t h e

E A m i n d c o n c e p t . F i r s t , t w o s p e c i f i c c u l tu r a l v i e w s o f m i n d s ( o rt h e c o n c e p t t h a t s e e m s c l o s e s t t o m i n d ) a r e d i s c u s s e d , t o u c h in gm a i n l y o n f u n c t i o n a n d c h a r a c t e r i s t i c s . T h e n d i s c u s s i o n t u r n s t oi d e n t i t y a n d i m p o r t a n c e o f m i n d i n s e v e r a l c u l t u r e s .


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12 LILLARDT w o V a r i a t i o n s F r o m t h e M i n d C o n c e p t

Illongot. R o s a l d o ( 1 9 8 0 ) d e s c r i b e d i n g r e a t d e t a i l t h e I l i o n -g o t ( a t r i b e i n t h e P h i l i p p i n e s ) c o n c e p t r i nawa, w h i c h i s t h ec l o s e s t c o n c e p t i n t h e i r c u l t u r e t o t h e E A c o n c e p t o f m i n d ,a l t h o u g h i t s p h y s i c a l i d e n t i t y i s w i t h t h e h e a r t . R i nawa " u n i t e sc o n c e r n s f o r t h o u g h t a n d f e e l i n g , i n n e r l i f e a n d s o c i a l c o n t e x t ,v i o l e n t a n g er , a n d s u c h d e s i r a b l e c o n s e q u e n c e s a s f e r t i l i t y a n dh e a l t h " ( p . 2 6 ) . T h e f i r s t t h r e e o f t h e s e c e r ta i n l y a p p l y t o t h eE A c o n c e p t o f m i n d , b u t s o c i a l c o n t e x t i s n o t h i g h l i g h t e d i n t h eE A c o n c e p t u a l i z a t i o n . F u r t h e r m o r e , v i o l e n t a n g e r w o u l d s e e mt o b e m i n d l e s s i n t h e E A v i e w , a n d f e r t i l i t y a n d h e a l t h m i g h tb e i n f l u e n c e d b y m i n d b u t a r e n o t t y p i c a l l y s e e n a s c e n t r a lf u n c t i o n s o f m i n d .

I n a d d i t i o n t o i t s f u n c t i o n s b e i n g m o r e n u m e r o u s t h a n t h o s ew h i c h E A f o l k p s y c h o l o g y a p p l i e s, rinawa, s c h a r a c t e r i s t i c s a r ei n s o m e w a y s v e r y d i f f e r e n t : I t c a n l e a v e t h e b o d y d u r i n g s l e e p ,i t a n i m a t e s t h e b o d y w h i l e a l i v e , a n d i t g r a d u a l l y l e a v e s o v e rt h e l i f e c o u r s e , m a k i n g i t t h i n i n o l d e r p e r s o n s . E v e n p l a n t s h a v er i nawa, b u t p r o c e s s e d r i c e h a s h a d i t s rinawa r e m o v e d . I n t h e s es e n s e s , r inawa s e e m s m o r e l i k e a g e n e r a l l i f e f o r c e . T h e I l l o n g o tt r u l y h a v e a d i f f e r e n t c o n c e p t o f m i n d i n t e r m s o f i t s p h y s i c a li d e n t i t y , f u n c t i o n s , a n d c h a r a c t e r i s t i c s , a l t h o u g h i n s o m e w a y si t o v e r l a p s w i t h t h e E A c o n c e p t . R e g a r d i n g i m p o r t a n c e , t h eI l l o n g o t c o n c e p t i s a l s o v e r y d i f f e r e n t i n a w a y t h a t h i g h l i g h t st h e s o c i a l c o n t e x t f e a t u r e n o t e d a b o v e . " T h e i m p o r t a n c e o fh e a r t a n d f e e l i n g s i n I l l o n g o t a c c o u n t s o f a c t i o n h a d m o r e t od o w i t h g e n e r a l n o t i o n s o f v i t a l i t y , c o n f l i c t, a n d c o o p e r a t i o nt h a n w i t h a ' p s y c h o l o g i s t i c ' s e n s e o f p e r s o n s " ( R o s a l d o , 1 9 8 0 ,p . 4 5 ) . W h a t i s i m p o r t a n t f o r I l l o n g o t s i s n o t w h a t g o e s o n i nthe r inawa b u t r a t h e r w h a t h a p p e n s b e t w e e n p e o p l e . T h e f o c u si s n o t o n a w o r l d o f d i s c r e t e s e l v e s c o n t a i n i n g m e n t a l w o r l d sb u t o n r e l a t i o n s h i p s .

EA history. T h e c o n c e p t o f m i n d h a s d i f f er e d e v en o v e r t i m ei n th e E A t r a d i t i o n ( O l s o n , 1 9 9 4 ) . I n o l d E n g l is h , m i n d a p p e a r st o h a v e d e n o t e d s o m e t h in g c l o s e r t o w h a t E A s n o w w o u l d c a l lsoul. The w o r d psuche i n a n c i e n t G r e e k a l s o t r a n s l a t e s b e t t e ra s s o u l ( W i l k e s , 1 9 8 8 ) , a l t h o u g h i t is o f t e n t r a n s l a t e d a s m i n d .T h e E A s e n s e o f m i n d h a s , i n c o n t r a s t , l o s t a l l c o n n o t a t i o n o fs o u l . A c c o r d i n g to S n e l l ( 1 9 5 3 ) , t h e G r e e k p s y c h e i s t h e l i f ef o r c e t h a t l e a v e s th e p e r s o n ( t h r o u g h t h e m o u t h , l i k e b r e a t h ) a td e a t h b u t a l s o e x i t s d u r i n g l o s s o f c o n s c i o u s n e s s . T h i s s e e m sc l o s e r to t h e I l l o n g o t r inawa than t o t h e E A c o n c e p t o f m i n d .

A n o t h e r c h a r a c t e r i s t i c t h a t a p p e a r s t o h a v e c h a n g e d i s t h eE A s ' t e n d e n c y t o v i e w t h e m i n d a s o n e e n t it y . F o r e x a m p l e , o n es a y s , " I c h a n g e d m y m i n d , " n o t " I c h a n g e d m y p r e f r o n t alc o r t e x . " I n c o n t r a s t, H o m e r i c G r e e k s u s e d s e v e r a l d i ff e r e n tw o r d s r e f e r r i n g t o d i f f e r e n t p a r t s o f t h e m i n d ( f o r e s h a d o w i n gm o d u l a r i t y ) . F o r e x a m p l e , t h e t hymos w a s a p p a r e n t l y t h e g e n e r-a t o r o f m o t i o n , w h e r e a s t h e n o o s c a u s e d i d e a s a n d i m a g e s( S n e l l , 1 9 5 3 ) . F u r t h e r m o r e , a s e x p a n d e d o n i n A t t r i b u t i o n :F r o m M i n d t o W o r l d , a n c i en t G r e e k s a p p e a r n o t t o h a v e t h o u g h to f t h e i n d i v i d u a l m i n d a s t h e s o u r c e o f a l l t h e i n d i v i d u a l ' s a c ti o n sa s E A s d o ( T a y l o r , 1 9 8 9 ) . R a t h e r, s o m e h u m a n a c t i v i t ie s w e r et h e r e s p o n s i b i l i t y o f t h e g o d s .S u m m a r i z in g h i s t o r i c a l c h a n g e i n t h e E A c o n c e p t o f m i n d ,o n e m i g h t s a y t h a t o v e r ti m e , th e E A m i n d h a s b e c o m e a u n i t a r yc o n c e p t , h a s l o s t m u c h o f i t s s p i ri t u a l c o n n o t a t i o n , a n d h a s c o m et o h a v e a n e s p e c i a l l y s t r o n g ( a l t h o u g h n o t e x c l u s i v e l y ) r a t i o n a l

c o n n o t a t i o n . W i l k e s ( 1 9 8 8 ) p l a c e d t h e b u r d e n o f t h i s l a s t c h a n g eo n D e s c a r t e s , c l a i m i n g t h a t h i s w r i t i n g b r o u g h t E A s t o s e e t h em i n d a s a p r i v a t e i n t e r n a l t h e at e r, w h o s e m a i n f u n c t i o n i s t h o u g h t( s e e a l s o T a y lo r , 1 9 8 9 ) .I d e n t i t y

A s n o t e d e a r l ie r , i n E A c u l t u r e i t s e e m s m i n d i s e q u a t e d w i t hs e l f , is i n t e r n a l , a n d i s g e n e r a l l y c o n t r a s t e d w i t h b o d y .

In our languages of self-understanding, the opposition "inside-outside" plays an important role. We think of our thoughts, ideas,or feelings as being "within" us, while the objects in the worldwhich these mental states bear on are "without." (Taylor, 1989,p. 111)T h e p e r s o n i s i n a s e n s e s p l i t i n t o t w o m a i n p a r t s , m i n d a n db o d y , a n d t h e s e l f g o e s w i t h t h e m i n d i n t r a n s p l a n t s i t u a t i o n s .

H o w e v e r , i n J a p a n e s e t h i s d u a l i s t i c s p l i t i s a p p a r e n t l y n o tm a d e . T h e r e i s n o c l e a r , s in g l e d i v i s i o n b e t w e e n m i n d a n d b o d y ,a n d s e l f i s n o t s o l e l y i d e n t i f ie d w i t h m i n d . I n s t e a d , t h e r e a r es e v e r a l g r a d u a t i o n s i n J a p a n e s e w o r d s r e f e r r i n g t o v a r i o u s i n c l u -s i o n s o f m i n d f u l , b o d i l y , a n d s p i r i t u a l a s p e c t s o f o n e s e l f ( L e b r a ,1 9 9 3 ) . Kokoro , s o m e t i m e s t r a n s l a t e d a s " h e a r t , f e e l i n g , s p i r i t ,i n te n t io n , w i l l, m i n d

Ethnopsychologies

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